RT / The ICC prosecutor’s decision to pursue a probe into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan is “completely political” and won’t amount to anything, law professor Francis Boyle believes. He said it will be a “cold day in hell” before any Americans are prosecuted. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced last week that her request to launch an investigation had been handed over to a pre-trial court. She said that if her request is granted, the probe will focus “upon those most responsible for the most serious crimes committed in connection with the situation in Afghanistan.”

Read more US spent $5.6 trillion on wars since 9/11 – study However, Francis Boyle, an international law professor at the University of Illinois, told RT that while Bensouda is likely to get approval for the investigation, the move is simply a “propaganda stunt.” He added that Bensouda has no desire to go after any Americans who committed war crimes.

“You have to understand, this is all political,” said Boyle. He noted that the African country of Burundi has already pulled out of the ICC, and South Africa has voiced the same intention.

“So she’s in a position and the court is in a position that almost all of Africa is going to pull out of the ICC because the only people in the dock over there are black, tin-pot dictators from Africa,” Boyle said. He called the court a “Western, racist, imperial tool” which is being used against Africa.

Because of this, the so-called “white man’s court” will not be going after Americans, Boyle said. “It will be a cold day in hell” before we see Bensouda doing so, he added. Boyle noted that the ICC has “never gone after the Americans, the NATO states, Britain, Israel, despite clear-cut jurisdiction to do so.”

Boyle went on to accuse the US government of committing a Nuremberg crime against peace by “invading Afghanistan and attacking it and blowing them back to the Stone Age and killing a million Afghans.” He added that “I doubt very seriously Bensouda is going to deal with any of that.”

“The United States illegally and criminally invaded Afghanistan and attacked and destroyed them… and then they set up all these torture campus over there, they’ve been torturing these poor people forever. And at a minimum, the United States has probably killed a million Afghanis [sic] since October 2001,” he said.

Read more ‘Main creator of terrorism is US war on terror, not terrorists’ “The Americans should have been investigated a decade ago at least,” said Boyle, who filed an ICC complaint against former US President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, among others, in 2010, over their policy of “extraordinary rendition perpetrated upon about 100 human beings.” He added that “the American government knows full well they’ll be able to sabotage her [Bensouda], stop her. Nothing’s going to come of it.”

However, Boyle predicted that Bensouda would likely come back with a verdict that it was actually the Taliban who was responsible for crimes. “Or she might apportion blame, but that’s ridiculous too…if you read all the United Nations reports of human rights violations coming out of Afghanistan, they all blame the Taliban. And it’s a joke.”

Although the ICC statement doesn’t name specific parties that would be subject to the investigation, a report released by the prosecutor’s office last year said there is “reasonable basis” to believe crimes were committed by US military forces deployed to Afghanistan, and in secret detention facilities operated by the CIA. It also points the finger at the Taliban and Afghan government forces.

Boyle noted that although the US can technically be prosecuted by the court – despite not being a member – the ICC “pretty much do what they’re told to do,” citing money received from Europe, Japan, and South Korea, as well as the influence of America.

Meanwhile, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said earlier on Thursday that at least 10 civilians may have been killed in an airstrike in the north city of Kunduz last week, despite a US military investigation stating that no evidence of civilian deaths had been found.

Boyle previously served on the board of Amnesty International USA and drafted legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which was signed into law after being unanimously approved by both chambers of the US Congress.

san fernando Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley prayed with members of the Muslim community and distributed zakat (charity) to the needy as he celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr at two masjids in San Fernando yesterday. He attended the Eid services on an invitation from Minister of Local Government Kazim Hosein, who is also referred to as a…

gasparillo The mother of a disabled child was shot dead inside her apartment in Gasparillo yesterday. Ornella Philips, 28, was shot once in the chest. Her body was discovered lying in the living room around 10 a.m. The country’s murder toll now stands at 243. Her eight-year-old daughter, Kayla, has cerebral palsy and depends…

ISTANBUL (AP): Turkish police stopped activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights from gathering in large numbers for an LGBT Pride event in Istanbul yesterday, but smaller groups made impromptu press statements, defying a ban imposed by the governor. Organisers of the 2017 Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride had vowed to march in central Taksim…

LONDON (AP): The list of high-rise apartment towers in Britain that have failed fire-safety tests grew to 60, officials said yesterday, revealing the mounting challenge the government faces in the aftermath of London’s Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. All of the buildings for which external cladding samples were so far submitted failed combustibility tests, Communities Secretary…

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WASHINGTON (AP): Making a final push, United States President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off” on a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare”. Expressing frustration, he complained about “the level of hostility” in government and wondered why both parties can’t work together on the Senate bill…

While reliving the horrors experienced by so many families after another spate of bizarre violence across the country last week, I couldn’t help but picture Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett’s rictus grin plastered on television screens while the elderly and even suckling babes were being gruesomely slaughtered inside their homes. While the rest of us were…

RJR News / The Ministry of Finance met with the Police Federation on Monday morning. The Federation served an ultimatum on the Ministry last week regarding retroactive payments to be made at the end of the month. It has also rejected the 16 per cent wage offer over four years. Addressing…

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Jamaica Gleaner / Two public bodies are spending US$5.7 million (J$730 million) over the next 12 months to build out 1.6 hectares (four acres) of land into a major artisan village and tourist attraction at the Hampden Wharf in Falmouth, Trelawny. Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett and officials from the Port Authority of Jamaica and…

Jamaica Gleaner / National Water Commission (NWC) customers in several Spanish Town, St Catherine communities are being urged to prepare for service disruptions until Friday as it shuts down the Yangswell Booster Station for maintenance . The NWC says the work will begin on Tuesday and should be completed by Friday. Customers in the following…

Jamaica Gleaner / Tamara Bailey, Gleaner Writer Finance Minister Audley Shaw has called for public sector workers to also focus on productivity as they demand increased salaries. “It can’t be about salary every time we talk, it needs to be about productivity and improving the productivity of every public sector worker because productivity is what…

RJR News / Assistant Commissioner of Police Ealan Powell, who has been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the State of Emergency in the St. Catherine North Division, has said his team will ensure that there are no human rights violations. “We are ensuring that when persons are brought in, they are processed…

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RJR News / Wednesday, March 21 is being celebrated as World Poetry Day. One of the main objectives of the day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities. This year, Poet Laureate of Jamaica Lorna Goodison, who was recently…

RJR News / Arrangements are being made for the processing of persons who have been detained since Sunday’s declaration of the State of Public Emergency in crime plagued communities in sections of the St. Catherine North police division. It’s unclear how many persons have been picked up so far. A statement from the police…

RJR News / R&B singer Trey Songz surrendered to LAPD to face a felony domestic violence charge early Monday morning. The singer turned himself in, with his attorney Shawn Holley, for the alleged incident involving a woman he was out with in L.A. last month during NBA All-Star weekend. He was booked and…

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RJR News / Members of the General Council of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) have voted to reject the latest wage offer made by the government. The government’s latest offer had been made on Friday following three days of industrial action by the teachers last week. JTA members opted to reject the…

Jamaica Gleaner / State Minister for Finance Ruddy Spencer is promising increased assistance for Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) now that a member of the party is the board chairman. Former Clarendon North Western MP Michael Stern was appointed board chairman in August last year. IN PHOTO: Michael…

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Jamaica Gleaner / HARARE, Zimbabwe (CMC): Marlon Samuels countered Brendan Taylor’s spectacular 10th One-Day International (ODI) hundred with an audacious half-century as the Windies completed their fifth highest run chase in ODIs, to beat Zimbabwe by four wickets and haul themselves back into contention for a spot in next year’s ICC World Cup in England. Facing…

Jamaica Gleaner / The police’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) has confirmed that two persons were fatally shot in separate incidents within the zone of special operations (ZOSO) in Denham Town yesterday. The identities of the dead men have not been revealed. However, CCU head, Inspector Dahlia Garrick, said the early-morning shootings, which took place on…

Jamaica Gleaner / The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) says passengers who travel to and from Spanish Town should expect delays as a result of the State of Public Emergency in the St Catherine North Police Division. At the same time, the company says it will be increasing the number of buses operating on Spanish…

Jamaica Gleaner / The police are reporting that four members of the Montego Bay based G-City Gang are among the 123 people so far detained in the State of Public Emergency in the St Catherine North division. The State of Public Emergency was declared yesterday by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. According to the police, 96…

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RJR News / Oil prices slipped on Monday as Wall Street slid more than one per cent and energy market investors remained wary of growing crude supply, although tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran gave prices some support. Brent crude futures were down 24 cents at $65.97 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate…

RJR News / The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), has issued a positive outlook for the island’s deposit taking institutions. In its just released 2017 annual report the Central Bank said with the stable economy, the low interest rate regime and sustained demand for credit, deposit taking institutions are expected to continue to perform positively…

Jamaica Gleaner / Former army chief Major General Antony Anderson was this morning sworn in as the 30th Commissioner of Police. He succeeds George Quallo who retired earlier this year. Anderson was sworn by Bishop Dr Gary Welsh, Justice of the Peace and Assistant Commissioner of Police,in during a brief ceremony at his Old Hope Road offices….

RJR News / Members of the group Fifth Harmony have announced they’re going to be taking a break to focus on their solo careers. In a message to fans on Twitter, the band members said they were going their separate ways in order to stay authentic to themselves and to their fans. They…

RJR News / Uber has said it is suspending self-driving car tests in all US cities after a fatal accident. A woman who crossing a street in Arizona was hit and later died. Uber said it was cooperating with local authorities in Arizona following the crash. …

RJR News / The main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) in Antigua and Barbuda has expressed concern about the state of the register for elections ahead of Wednesday’s polls. In a statement, the party said the register for the election that was published on March 12 might have been released in error and may not…